I think it is just plain selfish to get an infant's ears pierced. That baby does not come out of the womb saying, "Mummy, I do think that a dazzling pair of earrings would go quite wonderfully with my onesie, don't you agree?" No, unless it is for some religious reason it should never happen. I realize some people might say that it alleviates the child from remembering the pain but what if the child doesn't want the earrings? Sure you can take them out but isn't it really only for the parents' pleasure to have their baby pierced? What's next? A tattoo for junior? He can just get it lasered off if he doesn't like it.

When I was six months old, my mom pierced my ears because I had no hair and she was tired of people saying "Oh he is so cute" even though I was dressed in pink. A long time ago, I asked the same questions you did. When taken care of properly, the piercing will not get infected. The parent has to be a caring and aware parent.

I asked an acquaintance after she mentioned she pierced her baby daughter's ears. (I have tons of piercings and tattoos and I HIGHLY disagree with doing unnecessary, nonconsensual procedures like this.)

She said that she felt she should, because her ears were pierced as a baby. Also the mother could take care of cleaning them instead of waiting to get them pierced when she was a child where she might be touching them or forgetting to clean them. She also said she did it so people would stop assuming the child was a boy.

My mother had my ears pierced when I was a baby and did the same thing with my sister. I never thought about it like that but I think most people do it when their child is a baby to get it over and done with. Sure, it's something you can wait for but most don't... maybe it's so people know their kid is a girl, too...

To me its a lot like getting your child circumcised. It may not be as drastic but 9 times out of 10 your child will keep pierced ears through out the rest of their life. It doesn't hurt the child. They're too young to remember pain. Plus unless the parent is neglectful I don't see any reason to tell them how to raise their child and what they think is okay for them.

I think piercing a child's ears is equivalent to tattooing a child. Something that will be permanent should be decided upon by that person, not mom or dad. My daughter is 10 years old and until she asks me to get her ears pierced, she shall remain earring-free.
That's not to say I don't see it happening around me. My family tree is full of infants with holes in their ears.

My sister and I had our ear pierced as infants. We both had full heads of hair and were not mistaken for boys. My mother told me that she learned that infants earlobes have less pain receptors. My sister and I had our ears pierced by a physician (they do it by request). My mother cared for our ears neither of us had infections.

Among the Hispanics around whom I grew up, it was THE definitive gender differentiation tool. This seems to be the motivation for Arab and Indian/ Pakistani parents as well. I've seen parents of these cultures literally come right from the hospital to the Claire's at the mall in order to have their two-or-three-day-old daughters' ears pierced. I guess in cultures which place no or nearly no value on the lives of women, making sure a baby girl doesn't get mistaken for a baby boy and treated too well is very important.